The role of the veterinarian on human assisted reproduction
Rocha, André Monteiro da
Background: Infertility is a disease affecting 10% of the human population in reproductive age and couples experiencing difficulties to achieve pregnancy may benefit from assisted reproduction treatment. According to the Red Latinoamericana de Reproducción Asistida, approximately 34,100 in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments were performed in Latin America in 2007 and 42.3% (14,428) of these treatments were conducted in Brazil. Standard techniques and treatments for infertility were developed within the last 4 decades and some of them are still under technological improvements or they are frequently considered experimental or "state of art" technology. Usually, these treatments and techniques to overcome infertility were developed by professionals with different backgrounds including physicians, biologists, veterinarians and nurses. We aimed to review the role of veterinarians in translating animal biotechnology to human assisted procreation, developing new assisted reproduction technologies and treatments, and finally acting in clinical embryology laboratories as embryologists or supervisors. Review: Human assisted reproduction landmarks were: (i) the birth of the first in vitro fertilization (IVF) child; (ii) the implementation of intracytoplasmatic sperm injection; and, more recently, (iii) the development of successful protocols of vitrification for cryopreservation of embryos and oocytes. Veterinarians' contribution and participation in the field of human assisted procreation could be distinguished between technological development and/or clinical embryology. Despite of the 3 year delay on the birth of the first in vitro fertilization calf in relation to the birth of the first IVF baby, many steps and protocols of these technological advancements relied on the knowledge acquired from animal models or biotechnologies now used for commercial purposes in animal production and breeding. Furthermore, new embryo culture technologies such as microfluidics environments and controlled atmospheres are initially evaluated in animal models. Another example of the role of veterinarians on the development of human assisted reproduction is the emergence of the widespread concept of ovarian dynamics pattern of follicular waves in monovulatory animals from Theriogenology to Reproductive Medicine in the last decade. The translation of this concept to Reproductive Medicine might allow the development of different approaches of controlled ovarian stimulation. In a human assisted reproduction clinic, the clinical embryology laboratory is responsible for selecting oocytes after transvaginal ovum pick-up, fertilizing these oocytes, cultivating the supposed zygotes until the stage of 8 cell embryos or blastocysts, and embryo preparation for transference to the uterine cavity. Several tasks enrolled in these steps of human IVF are identical to those performed by veterinarians in an animal IVF facility; however, a veterinarian must be familiar to the specific guidelines and needs of a human IVF laboratory. Conclusion: Assisted reproduction treatments are performed by groups of professionals with different academic backgrounds. Veterinarians have been playing an important roles in the development and/or adaptation of several biotechnologies utilized for human procreation; additionally, veterinarians working on animal in vitro fertilization facilities have an adequate formation and skills to act on and/or supervise clinical embryology laboratories after specific education, practice and certification.
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